In ‘The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian’ Sherman Alexie expresses the character, Junior, as an outsider. Junior, the protagonist, is arguably the most important character, Sherman Alexie uses the character, Junior to express events which Sherman Alexie experienced himself when he was younger, and explore the meaning of being an outsider. Here are five major events;

One way that Junior is presented as an outsider is through his dual experienced of living and being raised at the Reservation whilst studying at Reardan. An example of this is when he is the only Indian who goes to an all white school. His friends in Reardan has gone to a few funerals but Junior has gone to more than ten. There is also another reason he is stuck between dual experiences of living his life is that when he goes to Reardan, he is called ‘Arnold’ but on the reservation, he is called ‘Junior’.

The idea of Junior being poor is because in page 56, he compare himself to a white person. It shows in a picture that he’s poor, he’s has ancestors that has Diabetes and Cancer and a garbage bag, for example a white person has a watch but he doesn’t  so he says as a joke that its ‘skin-thirty’. Junior says this because he cannot afford a watch rather than his fellow mates. Junior also says that quote because it makes the reader wonder about the character. This means he’s the odd one out to all his friends.

Another reason Sherman Alexie presented Junior as an outsider is in the second basketball match, this is one of the major events because Wellpnit used to be his old secondary school but when he left Wellpnit, he was unwanted in the Reservation and mostly no one liked him any more. It was the same at the second basketball match, his friend, Rowdy, didn’t want nothing to do with him also, Junior is thinking Rowdy wants to kill him if you look at his face. Junior never thought he would do this but he stop his friend scoring a goal and made him fly over his head and score.

Another major event in the book is when Junior went out with his new friends to a dance but when they went to the restaurant, he only had five bucks, but Junior’s friend saved his life because only five bucks in his perspective he only can buy pancakes of doom and syrup of regret also the butter of shame,  he started to throw up and his friend Roger gave him forty bucks, so he basically saved his life. That is how he is made an outsider.

the last major event in this book is when Sherman Alexie went to school with his sisters but in the book, Junior is alone going to an all white school. if the book did include his sisters, then the book wouldn’t be an outsider book, but as Sherman Alexie did it by himself, that means their can’t be more than one outsider that’s why he is an outsider. Their are moments in the book that Junior needs help but he can’t because  went to an all white school, until junior got friends by, punching a guy in the face because he was being racist, and by impressing girl.

For my conclusion, Sherman Alexie’s book ‘The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian’, help’s kids who are outsiders hope to do anything they can even though they are the only one doing it, and help them succeed just like Sherman Alexie did when he was a kid.